Although Dr Michael Iheonukara Okpara died almost 42 years ago, the mention of his name in Nigeria today evokes memories of the agricultural and agro-industrial revolution in Eastern Nigeria in the 1950s and 60s, during his days as the Premier of the former Eastern Region. During that glorious era, the Eastern Region ranked among the fastest growing economies in the world, alongside the four Asian Tigers, namely, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea.
In Okpara’s era, the vast and historically significant area known as the Eastern Region encompassed the nine present-day states of Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo and Rivers. Despite the humongous size of the region, no part of it was left out in the agricultural and agro-industrial revolution.
Under Okpara, farm settlements, plantations, cattle ranches and other livestock ventures were established across the length and breadth of Eastern Nigeria. Relying on revenue from agriculture, his administration transformed the eastern part of the country into an industrial and manufacturing hub.
M.I., as he was popularly called, made Aba a manufacturing and commercial hub, built a gas plant and asbestos factory in Emene, near Enugu, and established a cement factory at Nkalagu town, located in the current Ebonyi State. In the area of tourism, he built Hotel Presidential in Port Harcourt and Enugu to boost hospitality and elite tourism in both cities. That was not all.
